1. Product Description: Mechanical threshers are harvesting machines which separate seeds from straw mechanically. There are different threshing machines for different types of crops. This project idea deals with threshing machines for wheat, barley and oats. These machines save time and human energy; they are also efficient i.e. grains are not lost during threshing time as they are in traditional threshing.
2. Rationale: The traditional method of threshing grains in the country is time consuming and above all it is inefficient. Some fraction of the harvest is lost in the ground where threshing takes place. In the Amhara Region, more than 60 percent of grain production is cereals. To save time and reduce wastage of grain during threshing, mechanical threshing machines should be introduced. To reduce the cost for each farming family, one mechanical threshing machine could be brought by a group of farming families to be owned by the group but to be used separately. The use of mechanical threshing machine will liberate farmers from the drudgery of traditional harvesting work.
3. Market Potential: Among the 3.7 million families (households) in the Amhara Region, about 3.33 million are farming families. Of these, close to 2.3 million produce cereals. If we assume that one threshing machine will be owned by five families, the potential maximum demand for mechanical threshing machines will be 460,000 units. If we assume that only 10 percent of the maximum potential demand will be realized during the introduction phase of the machines, demand will be about 460,000 units. This is more than the viable capacity of a mechanical threshing machine fabricating/ assembly plant.
4. Source of Raw Material: Metals to be fabricated and parts to be assembled will be imported.
5. Production Process & Technology: A thresher is a rotating drum with a good number of bent galvanized wires fixed on its surface to hit the grains for their separation from the chaff or straw. For rotating purpose a shaft with ball bearing is fitted to the drum. In the production of the thresher, parts which require fabrication will be fabricated, others either they will be manufactured or purchased, or after assembling they will be painted.
6. Estimated Investment: For a plant that will produce about 600 units of mechanical threshing machine, estimated investment will be:
§ Building 400 m2 at Birr 2000/m2 = Birr 800,000
§ Plant and machinery =Birr 200,000
§ Working capital =Birr 90,000
Total = Birr 1,090,000
7. Benefits: Contributes to the modernization and efficient operation of the farming sector, introduces new skills and technology, releases labor for other more productive work if available, reduces the need of livestock/cattle for threshing purposes, reduces waste during harvesting---
8. Location: Bahir Dar, Combolcha,